Yesterday, along with the genuine release of Game Dev Tycoon, developers Greenheart Games treated some online gamers to an extra "gift" in the form of a cracked version of the game, which they then seeded via BitTorrent protocol.

Soon after seeding the cracked version of the game, thousands of users downloaded it. As those players progressed through the game--which takes players from producing games in a garage to becoming global leaders in the industry--establishing and growing their companies, they were blocked from proceeding further with the following, not-so-subtle hint--delivered straight from the mouth of one of the character avatars: "Boss, it seems that while many players play our new game, they steal it by downloading a cracked version rather than buying it legally. If players don't buy the games they like, we will sooner or later go bankrupt."

Players were prevented from progressing through the cracked version of Game Dev Tycoon with a guilt-tripping message.

The in-game message and gameplay blocker led to a slew of e-mails from players to Greenheart Games, asking for assistance. Some players of the cracked version even went as far as complaining about how online piracy has ruined their own fictional game businesses and "bankrupted" them. Others ironically b... [Read more]

Inspired by Terry Cavanaugh's Hexagon franchise, the ending of Fez, and his own apartment ceiling, Markus Persson, aka Notch, released a new Web game yesterday, in lieu of a contribution to this year's Ludum Dare competition. The game, titled Drop, puts you in a whirling representation of Notch's ceiling, where you must type the spinning letters in order, before the ceiling rushes up to crush you. Instead of frantically moving the arrow to find the path in Hexagon, you'll be typing words like "gnostic" and "journey" as fast as you can to avoid being labeled with game-over messages like "jealous" or "unloved." :(

Your typed letters will appear at the bottom of the game screen. The letter to be entered next will be shimmering and in the foreground; typing a letter correctly will clear it from the board; typing an incorrect key will cause the letter on the screen to flash red. I found that minimalist error messaging to be a bit too subtle for me. Apparently, I need a big flashing "X" to stop me from typing in the next three to four letters incorrectly.

Th... [Read more]

Opera Software has sued former employee Trond Werner Hansen, alleging that he gave trade secrets to rival browser maker Mozilla.

The Norwegian company seeks damages of 20 million kroner, or $3.4 million, according to a report by newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv, which uncovered the suit and wrote about it Monday.

"Opera is of the opinion that the former employee has acted contrary to his contractual and other legal obligations towards Opera. Among other things, we claim that he is in breach of the duty of loyalty and his contractual and statutory confidentiality obligations," said Ole E. Tokvam, a lawyer with Bing Hodneland Advokatselskap who represents Opera.

Hansen strongly denied the allegations in a blog post Monday. "I strongly disagree with their position, and I believe I have been wrongly accused, and that I can prove my case," he wrote on the blog, which detailed his employment at Opera, a "green browser" project he tried to get the company interested in, and some of his work for Mozilla in 2012.

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OS X Mountain Lion will soon be replaced by something new.

Apple's next desktop operating system launch, which is slated for later this year, will come with few visual enhancements, but a host of improvements for so-called power users, according to a new report.

The folks over at 9to5Mac on Monday said that they have sources with knowledge of Apple's plans who claim that the core design and functions of the new operating system, OS X 10.9 and code-named Cabernet, will remain the same. One of the biggest improvements, however, will be how the Finder application works. That application, which allows users to access files across the operating system, will support tags and tabbed browsing in OS X 10.9, making it easier for users to transfer files.

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